Afro-folk is the foundation of Bongeziwe Mabandla’s sound. But the South African uses every tool at his disposal to subvert the typical man-and-a-guitar cliché, blending the musical traditions of the Eastern Cape and beyond with cosmopolitan style. His songs run the gamut from crackling electro beats and sophisticated modern soul to pared-down acoustic arrangements indebted to influences like Tracy Chapman. Even when it’s just Mabandla’s ethereal voice, naked and honest, there’s an undiluted expression of yearning in his native Xhosa tongue.